The studies and tests conducted in clinical laboratories play an essential role in the detection, treatment and diagnosis of any type of ailment. Medical experts practicing in these laboratories usually perform a wide range of activities, which require advanced medical devices, such as microscopes, cell counters and many other innovative equipments. In the past few years, the use of LIMS has become imperative in the most prominent laboratories around the world, for it is set up to perform a variety of functions and thus, to streamline many core processes. LIMS stands for laboratory information management system and represents a distinctive software package and database that stores and manages laboratory data, work flow and specialized processes like sample life cycle. In its basic form, it is applicable to R&D labs, QA labs and many more. One of the greatest things is that it provides the option of automatic integration of information that is generated from different data processing equipments within the laboratory in a single data center. This is one of the system's very basic characteristics, but there are many fully-featured systems available that help laboratory technicians and managers to extend the implementation of software according to their specific needs and requirements. Every basic laboratory information system is custom-designed to handle the core work flow within a specific laboratory, from the moment the samples are received until the reports are filled with results, certificates of analysis and approval labels. Furthermore, advanced LIMS programs are designed to do much more than the basics, providing custom reports and labels at certain points in a sample's life cycle. The system can be easily set up to execute accurate testing calculations by itself, which streamlines the work of a laboratory technician, who no longer has to check each calculation, send papers back for corrections and waste a lot of time on quality control tasks. LIMS solutions also boast tracking functions so the date and time are recorded at each step in a sample's life cycle. Reports can extract this data, which can be used to track sample's turn around time for the laboratory. Laboratory information management is a distinctive software that has proven to significantly improve the management of lab samples, users, instruments, lab standards and other laboratory functions. Apart from the aforementioned functions, LIMS is a leading tool designed to streamline the gathering of information, as well as calculation, decision making, review and release processes, not only in the laboratory, but also away from it. State-of-the-art, fully-loaded systems are usually developed as web-based off-the-shelf solutions that promote laboratory and enterprise collaboration, ensure laboratory compliance and even provide a reliable platform for the smooth development of unrelated processes. Moreover, these solutions are created to support an unlimited number of users and therefore, to handle comprehensive reporting, inspecting and networking requirements both within the lab and across the institution. To that extent, each user owns his own interface that is customizable and can be protected through reliable security features. The laboratory manager is the only user who has full access to all of the LIMS' functions which gives him the opportunity to stay abreast of everything that happens within the lab. All in all, there are many LIMS solutions available on the market, but the challenge is to find and implement a model that offers great flexibility and functionality as well as the ability to effectively manage the specific process within the lab, optimizing its performance. For more resources about LIMS or about laboratory information management, please review this link http://www.sapiosciences.com/.
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